I'm not that guy. It's the ref's decision. With the detector (which I understand is limited technology but it's better than nothing) I may have info that the ref crew would find useful. So I offer it. I never have and never will argue with a ref's decision to clear the field or abandon a match. I don't play games with lightning.
Speaking of "detectors", don't ignore other warning signs of lightning beyond thunder and visible flashes. I once got the referee to stop the game when, as an assistant, I noticed people's hair around me on the sideline standing on end. It was cloudy and drizzly but there had been no flashes or rumbles at all. Nevertheless, the danger of an electrical strike was obviously quite high at that moment.
I get that same reaction every time I accidentally wear my old pair of ref shorts that are too short.
Back in a less enlightened times (no pun intended) I was working AR for the U12 final at MTOC, then held on the UMass campus. Thunder storms tended to follow the CT River valley about a few mile west of Amherst. Lightning all around yet the site admins did not cancel play. Then I noticed the hair on several players beginning to rise. End. Of. Game. [Clearly nobody remembers those days since the current site is smack in the middle of the flow of the Nashua and Nashoba River valleys.]
Was slightly frustrated this weekend. Doing a tournament with 6 fields, all of them finals, and we have "distant" lightning. I tell my far side AR to tell the marshal to the tournament tent. And while they do shut us down, I'd say at least 5-10 minutes passes from first sighting to the call to suspend. This is also at least 20 minutes after fairly frequent thunder (2-3 per minute) started. So not as quick as I would have liked they did make the right call. Also, when we restarted, we resolved any games that were tied with KFTM (games where a team was ahead ended as a win) so we could go home before next round hit.
We had lightning yesterday. Girls' varsity pre-season (NFHS). It was a 3:30 game, but lightning was overhead at 3:20. Players high-tailed it off the field, and the downpour started a minute later. My partner and I went to his car, visiting players to their bus, home team to the school. More thunder 18 minutes later, another 30 minutes to wait. We got the game in just fine(1-1, didn't play OT). The field was still pretty decent (a little run-off from the surrounding track), and the storm left as quickly as it came. We had to remind the newly-hired A.D. that the decision was his -- and not ours -- to cancel up until kickoff, but there wasn't any need. We just couldn't start before 4:08. It's situations such as these why they pound these rules into our heads.
The Ohio Valley Conference has just adopted a lightning policy: * Each member institution shall be responsible for having the capability of predicting or determining when lightning strikes are within specified distances of the competition site. * The host institution's athletic trainer shall be responsible for monitoring weather activity leading up to and during the competition. * When lightning is detected within a minimum of 30 miles of the competition site, home team management shall utilize the public address system to inform those in attendance that inclement weather including lightning is within 30 miles and that patrons should be prepared to seek shelter. Additionally, home team management shall notify the game officials that inclement weather is moving into the area. * When lightning is detected within a minimum of 10 miles of the competition site, the competition shall be suspended. Competition may be resumed after 30 minutes of no detected lightning strikes within a 10-mile radius. * Home team management shall communicate this policy to the visiting team and to game officials prior to the start of competition.
Let me just point out that the phrase "a minimum of" needs to be removed from the sentences in which it appears. "Within" means that 30 miles and 10 miles are in fact the maximum distances which would invoke the respective requirements for action.
I used CoachSmart for the first time last week, seemed to work well. Has any one used this app? If so, how well did it work for you. Measures lighting strikes 6, 12, 24 miles radius. Shows on a map and has an alert function as well.
As written, it allows the schools to act with lightning at a further distance than 30/10 miles. Your change would only allow them to act after lightning occurred closer than 30/10 miles.
This is a simple matter of language. When it comes to distances, "at a minimum" means at any distance greater than or equal to the stated distance, and "within" means at any distance less than or equal to the stated distance. So this statement... ...would be meaningful if the intent of the policy is to empower the home team management to set their own policy, as long as the distance within which the address will be made is at least 30 miles, but otherwise meaningless. The same is true for the game suspension policy, except that this... ...makes it clearer what the intention is. .
That's the point I'm making. The policy as written establishes a minimum guideline but permits the school to act sooner if it wishes. Your change would establish a firm and less safe policy. For example, I would not be allowed to suspend a game for a lightning strike at 11 miles if I choose to. I would have to wait for a closer strike.
I'm not sure if you're pulling my leg here or not, but you're not making any sense, and you don't seem interested in learning anything here. Thanks for the discussion.
Its simple. If you see thunder or hear lightning you stop the game and clear the field. Those 5 seconds you use to try to measure how far away the lightning is, is five seconds you should be using to get people off the field.
If you see thunder or hear lightning you should leave the field immediately and let your AR1 carry on at center.
A couple of years ago my son, barely 13 at the time was doing his first match, a U10 solo center. I was at another set of fields a few minutes away refereeing big kid games. When a storm approached I suspended my match at the first hint of lightning and drove over to his game. When I got there he had already suspended his match due to lightning. Good boy!
My son is playing helmet ball this season (kicker, of course). His last game was against a nearby school AND it was middle-school band night. So, we had the usual crowd plus our band, their band, and middle schoolers seeing what a HS band is like. All of them brought their parents (pretty cool, actually). Bottom line, the place was packed. Midway through the 1st quarter, we see lightning in the distance. The school principal (who just happens to have been the soccer coach of our first-born some 15 or so years ago) steps onto the field and does the 30-30 thing. Players from both teams are in the locker room in under 3 min. Besides myself, and my reluctant wife , not another soul moves. That includes the public address announcer who told everyone it wasn't safe to be in the stands.
Any suggestions for deciding when to terminate a game due to the threat of lightning and when to wait it out? Both times I've stopped a game, I made everyone sit around for a while before changing my mind and sending them home. I'd like to make that decision faster. Game this morning. Starts raining around halftime. Lightning siren sounds with 15 minutes to go with the score 0-4 and I get everyone to their cars even though there was no audible thunder or visible lightning. My initial decision was to wait. As I'm talking to the away coach at his car, he says his parents are telling him the radar says the rain won't stop and he has a game later that day. Home coach wants to continue, says they should forfeit if they have to leave for their game. I decide to terminate which earns me a good berating from the home coach, saying I "just want to go home" and "I want your name, phone number and badge number". I make a round though the parking lot to tell parents the game is over. I just get back to my car when the siren sounds all clear. I then stop by the home coach again to give him his passes back which earns me another berating.
First thing to do is find out what your league's policy is. Ours is that you wait 30 minutes from last thunder, but once you get to where the next 30 minutes will take you past a cumulative hour delay, you terminate and send 'em home. And don't fall for the parent with radar trick. The one time I did that, an afternoon's worth of sunshine broke out just as they were all driving away.
No league policy, just my discretion. The standard I invented yesterday was "whether we'd be able to resume in a reasonable amount of time". So the away team's later game played a role. I'll go with what the coaches want if they agree, but one of them is going to be unhappy if they don't. Radar was ugly when I checked at home before the game, so I was inclined to believe the poor reports. It did continue raining for quite a while after I called it, so I probably should have dug down when they said it "would continue".
I have heard the policy is: "If you See it, Flee it. If you hear it, Clear It" I am not sure all of the smaller leagues take the time to develop policies or guidelines but AYSO has some. I looked for the USSF developed guidelines, but the link at USSoccer.com failed. From the national AYSO guidelines: Studies have shown that most people struck by lightning are struck not at the height of a thunderstorm, but before and after the storms have peaked. This is because lightning can strike as far as 10 miles from the area where it is raining and many people are unaware of how far lightning can strike from its originating thunderstorm. Recognizing the Danger – And Knowing What to Do Many communities and parks systems have lightning detection and tornado warning systems in place as required by law. Obey the rules established at these facilities. When storm warning technology indicates severe weather danger, cease all field activities and seek shelter immediately. Know how to use the warning systems in place and heed all warnings even if you are told there is a possibility of a false alarm. When thunder is heard it is within striking distance. – seek shelter immediately. Do not wait for the rain to start before seeking shelter, and do not leave shelter just because the rain has ended. Enact the safety plan now! Restart games after no thunder has been heard for 30 minutes, or if there is a warning system in place, the community ALL CLEAR SIREN has been sounded. http://www.ayso.org/libraries/resources/ayso_severe_weather_play_policy_and_guidelines.pdf
Iron81, what league is that? You are in Illinois right? Both of the major Youth league around here (IWSL for girls and NISL for boys) have a clear policy for weather delay. NISL http://www.northernillinoissoccerleague.com/nisl/nisl_sub_rulesreg.htm See rule 501b. IWSL https://www.iwsl.com/anypage.php?f=rules.htm&title=Rules & Regs#weather
IllinoisRef Most of the games I do are for YSSL. In those links, IWSL doesn't address this specific situation and NISL says that the ref and coaches "must come to agreement" whether to terminate the game. Good luck with that if one team is ahead in the 2nd half.